Mineral Resources

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Vocabulary

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ore: a rock that contains a metal or economically useful mineral
alloy: a solid mixture of two or more solid metals

Outline

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The Uses Of Minerals

• minerals are used in everyday life
  • gemstones are mainly used for jewelry and decoration
  • metals useful for tools,machinery,faucets,architecture,automobiles etc,
    • materials from minerals are used for foods,medicines,fertilizers, and building materials

Ores

• ores do not occur on a pure form
  • copper comes from ores
    • an ore is a rock that contains a mineral or economically useful

Prospecting

• Prospector: a person who prospects, or searches, for certain deposits
• Geologists observe what kind of rocks are on the surface of the land

Mining

• Strip mining is when earthmoving equipment scrapes away soil to expose ore
• Open pit mining is when gigantic earthmoving equipment is used to dig a pit
• Shaft mines are tunnels that extend deep into the ground to follow ore deposits that occur in veins

Smelting

• smelting is the process of removing the metal from an ore so it can be used
  • smelting is used after the ore is taken out to remove the metal from the ore
    • an alloy is solid mixture of two or more metals